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Battle of Berestechko
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The Battle of Berestechko was fought between rebellious Zaporozhian Cossack, Ukrainian peasant forces, and their Crimean Tatar allies, led by Hetman Bohdan Khmelnytsky, and a Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth army under King John II Casimir.
Lasting from June 28 to June 30, 1651, it took place in Volhynia. The number of Polish troops is uncertain. Duke Boguslaw Radziwill (one of Polish commanders) wrote that the Polish army had had 80,000 soldiers. Modern historians [Zbigniew Wójcik, Józef Gierowski,Wladyslaw Czaplinski] estimate that the Polish army had 60,000-63,000 soldiers. The Cossacks had around 100,000 plus 40,000 Crimean Tatar cavalry and a few thousand Turks and Vlachs. Both sides had about 40,000 cavalry each. Fighting was close, with the core of excellent Cossack infantry making up for the weakness of their cavalry; much of the decisive fighting was by the infantry and dismounted dragoons of each side.
The Polish ArmyOn June 19, the Polish Army totaled 14,844 Polish cavalry, 2,250 German type cavalry, 11,900 German type infranty and dragoons, 2,950 Hungarian type foot soldiers, 1,550 Lithuanian volunteers, 960 Tatars and 30,000 levy in mass.
The Cossack-Tatar ArmyBefore the battle, the Uprisers army totaled 80,000 Cossacks, 28,000-33,000 Tatars and uncertain number of Ukrainian peasants.
First day of battle2000 Polish cavalry (one regiment under the command of Aleksander Koniecpolski, supported by Jerzy Lubomirski, six pancerni cavalry companies of Jeremi Wisniowiecki and winged hussars under the command of Stefan Czarniecki ) repulsed the Tatars, who suffered heavy losses.
During the first day of the battle, the Poles were victorious.
Second day of battleThe Poles, encouraged by their victory in the first day, deployed all available cavalry. Polish infantry and artillery stayed in the camp and didn't support the cavalry. But, this time, the tide turned. The Tatar cavalry won against its Polish counterpart. The Tatars came near to the Polish camp but were repulsed by heavy fire from the Polish infantry.
The Poles lost 300 soldiers, including many officers.
During the second day of the battle, the uprisers were victorious.
Third day of battleAt 3 p.m. Duke Jeremi Wisniowiecki led a successful charge of 18 cavalry companies against the right wing of the Cossack-Tatar Army.
The Polish centre, under the command of John Casimir, moved forward. The Tatars tried to attack it, but were repulsed. During the fight, a Polish nobleman called Otwinowski noticed a banner of the Khan. Polish artillery started to fire in that direction. A Tatar standing next to the Khan fell dead. Panicked, the Khan escaped and the Tatars retreated, kidnapping Khmelnytsky. Only the Cossack wagons remained at the field of battle.
The siege of the Cossack wagonsPolish forces laid siege to the Cossack wagons. Initially, the wagons were commanded by colonel Filon Dzhalalii but after some days, he was replaced by Ivan Bogun. On July 10, the Cossacks got into a panic, believing that their commanders had escaped. The Polish forces attacked the panicked Cossacks and the battle turned into a slaughter. There were 30,000 dead in the camp, including some women and children.
Results of the battleAs a result, Khmelnytsky was forced to sign the Treaty of Bila Tserkva with the Poles. As the battle ended, King Kazimierz committed an error by not pursuing the fleeing and disoriented Cossacks. Later, Khmelnytsky, who was released by the Khan, and the Zaporozhians would continue the revolt.
Members of noble families had the personal obligation to take part in the battle with men from their towns and villages. The officers and their supplied men for this battle were:
- Czarniecki, Stefan
- Dolega-Ossowski, Piotr
- Grzymala-Kazanowski, Adam
- Janina-Rzeczycki, Mikolaj
- Kalinowa-Kalinowski, Marcin Hetman
- Leliwa-Czapski, Franciszek
- Rawicz-Przyjemski, Zygmunt
Quotations"Naszego wojska bylo doboru effective osmdziesiat tysiecy."
"In fact, there were 80 000 our troops"
Duke Boguslaw Radziwill, "Autobiography"
External links-
- - Alphabetical List Of Polish Battles
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